Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist, Savannah<\/figcaption><\/figure>\nBrian and John, today is a day of great joy, for, in the presence of those who have nurtured and supported you over the years, your parents, brothers and sisters, relatives, friends, classmates, seminary faculty and staff and priests. \u00a0I will ordain you priests of Jesus Christ for ministry in the Diocese of Savannah.<\/span><\/p>\nToday, you will become Missionaries of Mercy with the mandate to transmit the Christian message by embracing those in difficulty, by embracing the outcast, the marginalized and the sinner.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIn my years as a priest and as a bishop, I have learned that, while people may be different on the surface, deep down, we are all pretty much alike.\u00a0 Whether we live in a trailer in south-central Georgia or an inner city housing project or an affluent mansion on one of the islands off the coast of Georgia, people often share the same needs: purpose in life, hope, dreams, affirmation, inclusion, reconciliation and mercy.<\/span><\/p>\nWhether someone is the CEO of a great corporation or a messenger at an office, whether someone is a famous doctor or a homemaker, whether\u00a0 someone is old or young, \u00a0from another culture or speaks a different language, we all share the same basic human condition with its wonderful possibilities and its frustrating limitations.\u00a0<\/span>So beneath the surface, our deepest joys and concerns are very much alike:\u00a0 we all search for friendship, respect, and understanding.<\/p>\nIt is the unique privilege of the priest to be with so many people during special moments and experiences in their lives.<\/span><\/p>\n![\"IMG_6214\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/613\/2016\/06\/IMG_6214-300x225.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
When a new baby is born, what happens?\u00a0 The family calls the priest to arrange a baptism.\u00a0 As a priest, you can see this as merely another baptism, perhaps one of seven or eight that you celebrate on a weekend.\u00a0 Or you can see it for the very special moment it is in the life of that family.<\/span><\/p>\nWhen it comes time for the children to receive their First Holy Communion, you can see it is as very hectic time or you can rejoice with the families who come to share this milestone in their child\u2019s faith life. On this occasion, the manner of the priest in celebrating the Eucharist and the words he shares in his homily can touch hearts and rekindle faith in people who may have been away from God for years, or unfortunately, it can be only a routine for us; a run-of-the-mill ritual.<\/span><\/p>\nThe same is true of weddings, confessions, illnesses.\u00a0 All these can be truly grace-filled encounters with the living God or they can be stale, dull, routine, listless ceremonies for us. That is a danger and a red flag that we need to address.<\/span><\/p>\nThe credibility of Christianity is undermined by \u201c\u2019religious leaders\u201d who preach one thing and do another.\u00a0 One cannot proclaim the Gospel of Jesus, and the Gospel of Mercy, without the tangible witness of one\u2019s own life.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nPeople come to us at the pivotal moments of life.\u00a0 As a young pastor, I use to regard emergency calls as interruptions to my schedule that I carefully planned for the day, until I realized that those \u201cinterruptions\u201d were a call to serve.\u00a0 That is the reason I was ordained.\u00a0 When a call came in to go to the hospital, I thought how I would hope that my mother\u2019s pastor would respond if she was the reason for the emergency call.<\/span><\/p>\nMy dear brothers, as a priest, you are called to be salt for the earth, a light in the world, and a Missionary of Mercy.<\/strong> You can really make a profound difference in the lives of many, many people.<\/span><\/p>\nYou can also make a positive difference in the life of our society by your witness to social justice.\u00a0 You will be exercising priestly ministry in a mission diocese where there are small pockets of Catholics spread throughout middle Georgia who long to hear the Gospel of Joy.<\/span><\/p>\nMany of our immigrants Catholics are afraid to be seen. They are living in the shadows. \u00a0Many are working hard to provide a better life for their family but do not always feel welcome. They must feel welcome in our parishes and missions.\u00a0 This is where they encounter Christ and we, as priests, as missionaries of Mercy and Good Shepherds, must make that happen.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nJohn and Brian, you must bring the values of the Gospel to bear on this situation, imbuing it with an ethic that says true riches come from hard work and being responsible and that true greatness consists not in narcissistic opportunism but genuine self-giving for the good of all.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nIt will be an important part of your ministry to build a sense of pride in your people and show the world that there is beauty and goodness in their lives.<\/span><\/p>\nWe live in a world in which many people deeply appreciate the Church and the priesthood.\u00a0 But there are others who have a difficulty understanding why two talented, intelligent, energetic men, like you, would want to spend their lives as priests?<\/span><\/p>\nThe priesthood is not the kind of position which provides much opportunity to become a mover and a shaker in our society.\u00a0 You are choosing a life of service in order to build up the kingdom of God.<\/span><\/p>\nWhy are you taking this step today?<\/span><\/p>\nWhy? Because you have become increasingly aware of the deep hungers of the human spirit.\u00a0\u00a0 You are aware of people who try to have it all, only to discover that possessions do not satisfy the profound yearnings of the human heart.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nAs you await the moment of ordination, you may very well be pondering the mystery of it all, as the prophet Jeremiah did so many centuries ago.\u00a0 \u201cWhy me, Lord?\u201d\u00a0 \u00a0I am so unworthy, I am too young. There are many others who are more capable.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nIn reply, the Lord God says to you both, as he said to those of us who have preceded you in this marvelous and mysterious vocation:, \u201cDo not be afraid, for I am with you.\u00a0 I will give you the words to say, I will not leave you alone in the desert.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nA second thought that may enter your mind as you await the time of ordination may well be: \u201cWhat am I getting myself into?\u201d \u00a0That question has merit! These are challenging times in the Catholic Church. There is no question, there will be challenges.\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nThe Church has never been a community without problems and challenges.\u00a0 Jesus faced problems, Peter faced problems, Francis of Assisi faced problems, Teresa of Avila and Mother Theresa of Calcutta faced problems.\u00a0 You will do well to remember that God did not promise us a life without challenges, He assured us, though, that He will not abandon us during these difficult times.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\nMy dear brothers, You are being ordained in the Jubilee Year of Mercy.\u00a0\u00a0 That fact should resonate in your heart for the rest of your life.\u00a0 You should be known as the \u201cpriests of the Year of Mercy\u201d and not my any other definition or label.<\/span><\/p>\nAnd so my dear brothers, my prayer for you this day is that you will find great joy in the priesthood of Jesus Christ and that you will be a messenger of joy and mercy to the people of this local church who so hunger and thirst for God.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\nOn this feast of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, we pray: Oh Mary,\u00a0 conceived without sin, pray for us who have recourse to you, and for those who do not have recourse to you, especially the enemies of the Church and those recommended to you.<\/span><\/p>\nO Mary, mother of priests, pray for us.\u00a0 Amen.<\/span><\/p>\nPicture of Cathedral of Saint John the Baptist is mine, all rights reserved. \u00a0Picture of newly ordained belongs to Father Justin Ferguson, all rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Last Saturday June 4th, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv, Bishop of Savannah, ordained\u00a0Father Brian O\u2019Shaughnessy and Father John Wright priests of the Diocese of Savannah. \u00a0Here I would like to share his inspiring homily. \u00a0It\u2019s a great reflection on the Priesthood. Brian and John, today is a day of great joy, for, in the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2533,"featured_media":1217,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[205],"tags":[19,320,110],"class_list":["post-1841","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-commentary","tag-bishop-hartmayer","tag-homily","tag-ordination"],"yoast_head":"\n
"Today, you will become Missionaries of Mercy:" An ordination homily<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Last Saturday June 4th, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv, Bishop of Savannah, ordained\u00a0Father Brian O\u2019Shaughnessy and Father John Wright priests of\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\""Today, you will become Missionaries of Mercy:" An ordination homily\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Last Saturday June 4th, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv, Bishop of Savannah, ordained\u00a0Father Brian O\u2019Shaughnessy and Father John Wright priests of\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Labyrinthine Mind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2016-06-05T22:03:56+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2016-06-05T22:05:01+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/613\/2016\/03\/IMG_3258.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"576\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"768\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Father Pablo Migone\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"7 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html\",\"name\":\"\\\"Today, you will become Missionaries of Mercy:\\\" An ordination homily\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2016-06-05T22:03:56+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2016-06-05T22:05:01+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\"},\"description\":\"Last Saturday June 4th, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv, Bishop of Savannah, ordained\u00a0Father Brian O\u2019Shaughnessy and Father John Wright priests of\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"“Today, you will become Missionaries of Mercy:” An ordination homily\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/\",\"name\":\"Labyrinthine Mind\",\"description\":\"Seeking God in the labyrinth\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b\",\"name\":\"Father Pablo Migone\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Father Pablo Migone\"},\"description\":\"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"\"Today, you will become Missionaries of Mercy:\" An ordination homily","description":"Last Saturday June 4th, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv, Bishop of Savannah, ordained\u00a0Father Brian O\u2019Shaughnessy and Father John Wright priests of","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"\"Today, you will become Missionaries of Mercy:\" An ordination homily","og_description":"Last Saturday June 4th, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv, Bishop of Savannah, ordained\u00a0Father Brian O\u2019Shaughnessy and Father John Wright priests of","og_url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html","og_site_name":"Labyrinthine Mind","article_published_time":"2016-06-05T22:03:56+00:00","article_modified_time":"2016-06-05T22:05:01+00:00","og_image":[{"width":576,"height":768,"url":"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/613\/2016\/03\/IMG_3258.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Father Pablo Migone","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Father Pablo Migone","Est. reading time":"7 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html","name":"\"Today, you will become Missionaries of Mercy:\" An ordination homily","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website"},"datePublished":"2016-06-05T22:03:56+00:00","dateModified":"2016-06-05T22:05:01+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b"},"description":"Last Saturday June 4th, Bishop Gregory J. Hartmayer, OFM Conv, Bishop of Savannah, ordained\u00a0Father Brian O\u2019Shaughnessy and Father John Wright priests of","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/2016\/06\/today-you-will-become-missionaries-of-mercy-an-ordination-homily.html#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"“Today, you will become Missionaries of Mercy:” An ordination homily"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/","name":"Labyrinthine Mind","description":"Seeking God in the labyrinth","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/35ce8464416a4368561caf8ed8c2ba1b","name":"Father Pablo Migone","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/305296c2dd82f71369f8808eb07ace26?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Father Pablo Migone"},"description":"Born in Lima, Peru and raised in Augusta, Georgia, Father Pablo Migone was ordained a Roman Catholic priest in 2009 after studying at the Pontifical North American College and earning a Masters in Dogmatic Theology at the Pontifical University of Saint Thomas Aquinas in Rome, Italy. He currently serves as Vicar for Mission Advancement of the Diocese of Savannah, Georgia and Pastor of Our Lady of Lourdes Parish and Corpus Christi Parish in the Savannah, Georgia area. The views expressed in this blog are his own and do not necessarily reflect the views of his bishop or the Diocese of Savannah.","url":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/author\/pmigone"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2533"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1841"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1841\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1217"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1841"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1841"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/labmind\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1841"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"IMG_3258\"](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/613\/2016\/03\/IMG_3258-225x300.jpg\")